I once was taking a bus from San Francisco airport downtown and the bus got blocked by a street fair. I had a small back pack and decided I would rather walk...

It was the Folsom Street fair.

For those of you unfamiliar (I was too but it only took a few minutes to figure it out), that is the big gay San Francisco street fair. Frankly I found it kind of humorous, especially the giant head of Jesse Helms that you could pay $5 for an HIV charity to get the chance to throw giant dildoes in his mouth.

Punching the Pelosi and Reid pinatas is a bad idea. I would rather they did something humorous.

According to our resident Leftists and their cohorts in the MSM, they never existed. No one ever treated Bush or any Republican in history with disrespect. No one compared Republicans to Nazis or called them racists or beat them in full view of video cameras.

Leftists only engage in thought-provoking intellectual conversations, and never resort to name-calling and violence. If it weren't for evil Republicans (did I say "evil," sorry...that slipped out...a Leftist would never call a political opponent evil), then we could get past this current Taliban attitude (sorry, did I say "Taliban"? I meant "obstructionist party of no ideas." Oops...did it again...I mean...oh never mind.)....well you get the picture.

I don't know what you're talking about, Ann.

That stuff never happened. It wasn't in the NY Times and Kos told me those were all lies, so obviously you're just a right-wing, goose-stepping Nazi desperate to impose your fascistic system on people who are far smarter than you. So I don't want to hear a whole lot of talking from you.

The American political system is like a gigantic Mexican Christmas fiesta. Each political party is a huge pinata -- a papier-mache donkey, for example. The donkey is filled with full employment, low interest rates, affordable housing, comprehensive medical benefits, a balanced budge and other goodies. The American voter is blindfoled and given a stick. The voter then swings the stick wildly in every direction, trying to hit a political candidate on the head and knock some sense into the silly bastard.

It's not a proper piñata unless the person doing the swinging is blindfolded and an unblindfolded adult is jerking the piñata out of reach of the swing making the swinger appear foolish blindly swinging wildly without ever connecting thus prolonging the life of the game so that all children can try. This makes a MOCKERY! out of the whole idea of piñatas.

You couldn't pay me to attend one of these things, lib or conservative. Put people in large groups, and if it's related to politics, there's going to be some embarassing behavior you would never want to be associated with.

There are two rules of restraint necessary in winning trial law : One of them is not to plead anything you do not need to, for fear you will have to prove it. The other is NEVER give to your opponent the evidence he can use that he and cannot get except from you. ( The Criminal law version of these two rules amounts to "don't speak to the police") I expect that our Law Professor is reacting to a lack of such wise restraint among Hubris filled CPAC wits. The election day is still 9 months off.

Actually I'm quite at a loss to see how smashing puppet representations of political figures has anything to do with domestic violence. Surely we know the difference between hitting an inanimate object and hitting a human being, don't we? Isn't it, in fact, degrading toward humanity to not assume people can differentiate the two? Or perhaps you assume that the enlightened beings reading this blog can make the distinction, while the pathetic brute prole masses cannot?

Personally, I'll presume that people can have their fun with some puppets without reading anything more into it. And that goes for Democrat Bush-heads or Republican Pelosi-whackers.

I, for one, miss the puppets. They depicted the liberal mind and the liberal love of honest debate. I thought they were excellent. I loved to think of the people assembling them and carrying them to the protests and storing them for the next one. I wonder if they said to themselves, "this is the one, the one that is going to bring it on down." They must have, mustn't they? How else could they have lived with the puppets?

The real world includes voters deciding the outcome of the all important election 9 months from now. The swing vote of 2% can be all that decides it. So don't do a damn thing that you happen to enjoy freely doing for your own pleasure that can also lose you the swing votes we need. Celebrate with Macy Parade Balloons and dancing in the streets with fireworks the day after the voters have spoken, not that the voters are Fat Ladies.

It is an act of violence, Mag. It should be reserved for really offensive behavior.

Pelosi and Ried are repugnant people and are doing terrible things to this country, but so far they have remained within the rule of law (loosely defined) and haven't done anything overtly oppressive or unconstitutional. I hate them intensely, but tarring and hanging in effigy will not do anything to win people over from a neutral viewpoint.

It's an idiotic act.

Couching in terms that it is a traditional and acceptable form of protest overlooks that it is a form of protest used by frenzied mobs for despots, not for elected officials.

Ann, this was worth mentioning, why? It's not exactly "bad taste", nor is it emblematic of anything (it's not like the "Kill Bush" stuff that came before, so how are Republicans being like Democrats?) Really, what's the point? That Republicans shouldn't or can't enjoy some stupid fun?

Obviously Althouse hates hanging politicians in effigy or banging pintas versions of them. It's beneath her centrist morality or something. The question I have to Ann is - have you ever felt for outraged and violated that you wanted to hang a politician in effigy? Why do you begrudge the rest of us this pleasure?

David - remember the Democrats always have it easier in elections, since they promise the free goodies to people. Republicans in general try to run on personal responsibility, free markets. A much harder sell.

There will be a conservative-themed party Friday evening not sponsored by CPAC, where guests will have the opportunity to whack a Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pinata.(Emphasis mine)

What bothers me is that the party is sponsored by someone other than CPAC, yet CPAC is getting the blame. The article didn't even mention CPAC's response to the planned party to see if they were comfortable with the plans.

IF CPAC is OK with the theme, then the criticism is warranted. If not, then not so much.

David - remember the Democrats always have it easier in elections, since they promise the free goodies to people. Republicans in general try to run on personal responsibility, free markets. A much harder sell.

Not necessarily true. Democrats truly believe in higher taxes (though they often deny it for a general election no one believes that). They also believe in having a weaker military and stronger enemies. They also believe in more criminals on the streets instead of in jail. They believe in forcing us into a stone age so we don't offend gaia, they want us to use one square of toilet paper, or reusable toilet paper.

Nah, the Democrat party has a pretty tough sell, too. They believe in sacrificing us for them.

Not necessarily true. Democrats truly believe in higher taxes (though they often deny it for a general election no one believes that). They also believe in having a weaker military and stronger enemies. They also believe in more criminals on the streets instead of in jail. They believe in forcing us into a stone age so we don't offend gaia, they want us to use one square of toilet paper, or reusable toilet paper.

That's how you see it, but that's not how they run. How many Democrats in swing districts run on raising taxes to pay for their programs? Yeah I thought so.

Not to mention that virtually no one relies on national news sources anymore to sift through the chaff to find the wheat. It's ALL about the chaff now.

How do you know virtually no one relies on national news. Last I checked the nightly news still gets a majority of the American public to tune in. Only political junkies get there news from many internet sources.

Again, point well made, Alex. I overstated to a certain extent. What I meant was that even those who turn into the national news nightly, myself included, can then flip the channel to CNN, MSNBC or Fox for further commentary. And we do, in no small number.

It seems to me that Americans are perfectly willing to be "chafed". In fact, the more exposure they have to the "offending source", the more likely it is that they go back for more. Much like "beard burn" was to me when I was just beginning to understand my maturing sexuality as a teen.

"Sometimes the best thing to do is to unplug from the news cycle and read some solid world history."

Maybe so, Alex. You are surely not the first person to suggest I do that. Of course, most who have suggested I do that, are those so sure that the "past" portends all we need to know about the "future".

What I noticed first was that even those steeped in history, came to no consensus about our collective future.

What I noticed after that was that "history" belonged to those that CONTROLLED the dialogue in a given place at a given time.

This was just around the time that I became "secretary" for management/employee meetings at my company, back in 1974. I was personally mortified, as a professional woman, to be "secretary" to anybody.

I think it was sometime around 1976, when my "minutes", my "history" was referred to as the "gospel" that would lead my company out of a most contentious situation, that neither memory nor power could resolve.

Needless to say, since then? The "written word", the "history", nor the "gospel" has meant too much to me.

With all due respect. I keep my OWN minutes. Which of course, perfectly capture my subjective opinion all along the continuum I call my life.

"Sometimes the best thing to do is to unplug from the news cycle and read some solid world history."

Maybe so, Alex. You are surely not the first person to suggest I do that. Of course, most who have suggested I do that, are those so sure that the "past" portends all we need to know about the "future".

What I noticed first was that even those steeped in history, came to no consensus about our collective future.

What I noticed after that was that "history" belonged to those that CONTROLLED the dialogue in a given place at a given time.

That's the conventional wisdom, but the idea that the truth, eventually, comes out is just as potent. For those who follow such thing, consider the change in opinions about Custer and Little Big Horn.

Fine, would you rather see Reid punched in the face after he's out of office? He is a vile, repugnant, and vindictive little man who couches his bigotry against conservatives in his legislation. Fuck him and fuck you if you support him. Any supporter of Harry Reid has about as much worth as sidewalk gum. I've said it here before that I'd willingly go to jail for a 5 minute pummeling of that human sack of shit, but if someone gets to him before me, so much the better. You know what real thuggery is? Then why don't you try on his ideology for size. There's your thuggery. A beating would be to good for that dick.

The article says "(t)here will be a conservative-themed party Friday evening not sponsored by CPAC, where guests will have the opportunity to whack a Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pinata."

NOT sponsored by CPAC.

Not.

I'm guessing there may very well be acts of prostitution and perhaps even murder committed across the city that night, and these will likewise NOT be sponsored by CPAC. Shall we all write articles and comments decrying how CPAC has hooked and killed as part of their get-together?

The conservative penchant for violence is obvious from a featured Teabag speaker in Washington who was making death threats against Senator Patty Murray:

"How many of you have watched the movie Lonesome Dove?," asked an unidentified female speaker from the podium. "What happened to Jake when he ran with the wrong crowd? What happened to Jake when he ran with the wrong crowd. He got hung. And that's what I want to do with Patty Murray." .

Threats of violence are a widespread feature from both the grassroots and the conservative leadership.

No wonder the past couple years have seen a marked increase in right wing political violence in this country. Their leaders are egging them on.

- Jim David Adkisson killed two people and wounded six others at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. "Inside the house, officers found "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder" by radio talk show host Michael Savage, "Let Freedom Ring" by talk show host Sean Hannity, and "The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly."

- Scott Roeder, anti-abortion extremist, killed Dr George Tiller.

- Border protecting militia types Shawna Forde, Jason Bush, and Albert Gaxiola were arrested and charged with the murder of Raul Flores and his daughter, and the wounding of his wife.

- In 2008, Bill Gwatney, state chair of the Arkansas Democratic party, was and shot and killed.

In our public debates we have the tactics of thuggery used in the political debate.